integrated microfluidic devices. Preconcentration not only improves detection sensitivity of SERS signals but also improves the reliability of the analysis by significantly increasing signal-to-noise ratio. Another reason necessitating preconcentration is the discrepancy between volumes of sample available and those consumed for analysis.
The general goal is to preconcentrate a molecule based on thermophoresis in a microfluidic platform to amplify the SERS signals. Our first specific goal is to preconcentrate target molecules using and the second goal is to amplify the SERS signal of preconcentrated molecules.